Reagan and the USCA

Well I am shutting this blog down, I have covered most of Reagan’s non Russia foriegn policy stuff.

Reagan enlisted in in B Troop 322nd Cavalry in 1937, this is the unit represented on the USS Reagan’s Flag. He took Army correspondence courses and was commisioned a second lieutenat and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He transferred over to the 323rd Cavalry and stayed there until being transferred to the Army Air Corps during World War II.

When he was elected President he filled out a hand written application to the USCA and was made its honorary chairman for his entire time in office. This slot is still not filled to this day in his memory.

Reagan eleveated the  Veteran’s Adminstration to cabinet level during his time in office. This meant the Department of Veteran’s Affairs now had its own appeals court. Veterans could now contest decisions in relation to compensation and benefits. Reagan did this because he was a veteran.

The USCA is not a veterans group, it is a historical society. I send money every year because of what Reagan did for all veterans.

Reagan and Panama

In 1983 Manuel Noriega was placed as head of the Panamanian Army, and then becomes President in 1984. He was a known CIA contractor agent for years prior and had presented himself as pro American.

Noriega started laundering money for South American drug cartels and allowing corporations to sneak technology to Cuba. This all occurred as the United States was looking for stability to conduct anti communist operations in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

As early as 1987 anti Noriega rioting and protests started to begin, so in 1988 he demanded that United States Southern Command be removed from his country. this lead to economic sanctions against Noriega.

During this time Panama formed what came to be known as Dignity Battalions and there were several small engagements between them and American forces. Eventually this would lead to the removal of Noriega by United States troops, but that would not occur until George H.W. Bush was president.

Stuff

Played golf once this week, I am slowly getting better.

The Bangor State Fair is this weekend and so is the Street Dance at the East Branch Sno Rovers in Medway. I plan on going to both.

I am not going to cover Reagan’s dealings with Russia, that is pretty common knowledge so no sense in repeating it here. As for China he had one notion he stuck with, Taiwan will be supported by the United States, just as it had supported us in the past.

Reagan and the CIA

Ronald Reagan rarely said anything negative about Jimmy Carter after the campaign of 1980. The only thing he mentions in his diaries several times was the fact that Carter had hurt United States Intelligence abroad by controlling the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1981 the President set about to restore the Agency and in December 1981 issued an executive order that made the CIA the primary intelligence gathering entity unless the President felt another agency could do a particular operation better.

The rebuilding of the Agency commenced with large recruitment operations on American college campuses. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst was used as a primary source, so much so that the 1987 graduation was protested by Amy Carter, Jimmy’s only daughter.

Reagan and the MFO

When Jimmy Carter got Egypt and Israel to agree to a peace accord the Sinai was to be handed back to over to Egypt. This meant that troops would have to be involved and the timetable spilled over into 1982 as the date of the turnover, so Reagan was involved by default.

In 1981 Egyption President Anwar Sadat was killed by groups opposed to the peace agreement so security would become an important issue. United States troops in a small scale were already there at that point.

The Soviet Union voted against the security measures in the United Nations so another group had to be formed for the security job. The Multinational Force and Observers group was formed by the United States and several other countries.

In December 1985 a plane carrying troops from the 101st Airborne were rotating back from Egypt when the plane crashed after take of in Gander, Newfoundland killing over 200 Americans. The investigative commitee tasked with looking into the crash thought it was an ice problem but could not be 100% sure. A terrorist group out of Lebanon claimed responsibility but this was never proven.

Many think it was an explosion that took the flight down.

Reagan and Kissinger

During the 1976 election Ronald Reagan and Henry Kissinger seemed to be at odds. Reagan’s questioning of the Ford Kissinger team appeared in the media to a permanent fraction between the two. This appeared the case when Ronald Reagan did not appoint Kissinger to any cabinet positions in the Reagan White House.

By 1983  the the Cuban/Russian based attempts to destabilize the Central America region that were started in 1979 were becoming serious enough Reagan needed some top notch people on board. Dr Kissinger agreed to head up the Commision on Central America for the President.

The 1984 report the Kissinger lead group supplied in January gave a breakdown as to the situation in Central America and what steps were needed to help  stabilize  and maintain the course best for America’s interests. The conclussion was that the Nicarugua and El Salvador would need some form of help fighting communism from the United States.

Reagan and the National Guard

During  Reagan’s time in office he considered containing communism in Central America one of his top priorities. He stated in his diary that he believed that if Central America fell then Mexico would be next.

Borrowing from Woodrow Wilson he started using National Guard troops like what had happened on the Mexican border in 1916, but this time placing them in Honduras. Several Governors objected including future Presidential hopeful Mike Dukakis.

The federal courts prevented the Governors from blocking executive power through the Montgomery Amendment. This gave authority to the President once he declared a National Guard unit federalized. It was appealed but it finally ended during the George H.W. Bush Administration intact as the act was designed.

Reagan was a Democrat

Well not to much to say today. Weather has been bad here all summer, but the Harleys are rolling by as I write so it looks like it will be fun.

Talked to Tom at the Blue Ox last night, he is looking forward to crowds. He is an interesting person, I have known him for over a decade and only recently did it come out he was in 1/7 in Vietnam. We do not see eye to eye on politics but that is what makes this country great.

I must clarify one thing though, Ronald Reagan was a democrat at one point. In his personal writings he states he liked FDR and thought the New Deal was needed. His issue of contention was LBJ’s Great Society, he felt that is where this nation steered off course.

Reagan and Grenada

In late October 1983 Ronald and Nancy Reagan were staying at the Eisenhower Cottage at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. They had quite a day while there when several governments from the Carribean called and asked President Reagan to put a halt to Cuba building an airstrip on the Island of Grenada.

Reagan after talking with his staff decided to invade. That same day a deranged guman took over the pro shop at the course demanding to speak with the President. Reagan called him 5 times only to be hung up on each time. Later that night Reagan was informed of the barracks bombing in Lebanon. Quite a day indeed.

The Invasion was run by several people but most notable were Colin Powell as a security advisor and Norman Schwarzkopf as commander of Army ground forces.

The invasion was over in three days but troops stayed until December to stabilize the island, at which point the government of Grenada asked for the troops to stay but the President decided against it.

Reagan and the Persian Gulf

When Ronald Reagan entered office in 1981 the Iran Hostage Crisis came to an end on the day of his inauguration. This would be a foreshadow of his entire time in office. When Iraq invaded Iran in 1981 the United States decided to support Iraq with battlefield intelligence. This was an attempt to prevent Iran fron taking control of the Persian Gulf and spreading its revolution.

In 1984 what was termed the Tanker War began with Iran attempting to destroy ships leaving Iraq and Kuwait that had oil shipments. This finally came to a head in 1987 when Reagan decided to reflag Kuwaiti Oli Tankers as American Ships. This action was named Operation Earnest Will and lead to several major incidents, but Reagan was determined to have the Iran Iraq War wrapped up before he left office in January 1989.

The USS Stark was hit by an Iraqi missile that killed a number of American Sailors, Iraq claimed it was an accident, Reagan accepted this. Several tankers were hit by mines or attacked by small boats manned by Iran. Before 1987 would end several attacks would be made on oil platforms that Iran was using as observation posts.

1988 would bring a more aggresive stance by the United States. Operation Praying Mantis was launched during the summer and lead to sinking of half the Iranian Navy in retaliation for numerous harrasing actions. Un-fortunatley an American ship shot down an airliner leaving Tehran.

By the end of 1988 the Iran and Iraq war was settled. The flag would offically drop for Operation Earnest Will on August 1st 1990, unfortunatley Iraq would invade Kuwait the next day thinking America had left for good.